HEBREWS 12
RUN THE RACE OF FAITH WITH ENDURANCE
The author instructs believers to throw off the sin that easily entangles them so that they can run the race of faith. Believers are called to persevere with endurance what God has set out before them. Because Jesus is the founder and perfecter of the faith, He endured the cross to bring joy and everlasting life to believers.
Reassuring believers, the author urges them not to grow weary in their faith. Instead, they are to resist sin and remember those who have endured before them. The author teaches that God corrects His people in love. God’s reparation may be more painful than pleasant in the present moment, but it later yields peace and righteousness.
Followers of Jesus are challenged to respond to God’s correction with prayer. Instead of resisting God, they are to redirect themselves on a new path. Believers are challenged to strive for peace with others and avoid bitterness.
Remembering the mistakes as Esau, who traded his inheritance for a single meal, the author encourages believers not to trade what they ultimately want for what they immediately want (Genesis 25). Faithfulness and persistence will always yield greater results than instant gratification.
The author describes Jesus as the righteous judge who makes all things perfect. Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant and the arbitrator between God and humanity. The author compares Jesus to Abel. Abel offered a sacrifice that was pleasing to God, but was unjustly murdered (Genesis 4). Although Jesus was also unjustly killed, His blood was completely without sin and greater than that of Abel’s.
The chapter ends with a warning against rejecting Jesus. Those who reject Christ also reject God’s unshakable kingdom. The author warns believers to respond to God with worship, reverence, and awe.
Hebrews 12:1-2 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
